Celebrate the Small Things 13-4-18

This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

What am I celebrating this week?

It's Friday!

Although it is Friday 13th, so if I was a superstitious type, I'd be worried...

Luckily I'm not, so I'm just going to celebrate the end of the week, and the end of the school term.

Yes, the kids have two weeks of holidays from today.  Unfortunately with the team heading to Cannes in 3 weeks, and a huge event we're having in two weeks, I'm not going to be able to take any time off to spend with them.  Luckily they're old enough now to entertain themselves most of the time.

I am very close to finishing my story.  I hope to get it done over the weekend so I have a few days to revise and polish before the 20 April deadline.

What are you celebrating this week?

Books I've Read: Literally

The premise for this book really blew me away, and as soon as I read the blurb, I knew I had to read it.  Unfortunately, the execution wasn't quite as good as the blurb promised.

Annabelle is a super-organised person whose life is thrown into chaos first when her parents announce they are splitting up and selling the house she's grown up in, then when an author visiting her English class lets slip she is writing Annabelle's life.

The rest of the book follows Annabelle as she struggles to enforce her own will on her life rather than following the plot the writer wants her to follow.

Pretty cool idea for a story, right?  Especially when the author in question is the author of the book.

But it doesn't really work.  Will, the author-written love interest has no spark.  Sure, he's 'perfect' for Annabelle, but perfect is boring.  Is it any wonder that Annabelle starts having feelings for the far more interesting Elliot?  And the way the author writes herself is uncomfortable.  I know it's tempting in a fictional world to make all your dreams come true, but all the descriptions of Lucy and her career and all the movies that had been made of her books just made me cringe a little.

There were some great moments in this book.  I especially liked the times when Annabelle was still figuring out that she really is a character in a book and the little things going on that made it clear she really was.  But overall, it was disappointing.  Which is a shame because it's a really great idea for a story!

But don't just listen to me.  Here's the blurb:


A girl realizes her life is being written for her in this unique, smart love story that is Stranger Than Fiction for fans of Stephanie Perkins.

Annabelle’s life has always been Perfect with a capital P. Then bestselling young adult author Lucy Keating announces that she’s writing a new novel—and Annabelle is the heroine.

It turns out, Annabelle is a character that Lucy Keating created. And Lucy has a plan for her.

But Annabelle doesn’t want to live a life where everything she does is already plotted out. Will she find a way to write her own story—or will Lucy Keating have the last word?

Beneath by Maureen A Miller

Beneath by Maureen A. Miller

Genre: YA/Adventure/Romance

From USA TODAY bestselling author Maureen A. Miller comes this young adult adventure that will plunge you deep into the Atlantic Ocean. It was Stella Gullaksen’s final break before starting her freshman year at college. Joining her best friend, Jill, and Jill’s family aboard the STARKISSED, Stella wakes to a violent storm that capsizes the boat over a hundred miles off the New Jersey shore. As the waves haul her under Stella knows that she is going to die. Instead, an unusual current drags her deep into the underwater canyons of the Atlantic Ocean. Powerless against the raging waters, she is suddenly sucked into a ventilated cave. One by one, Jill and her family also emerge in the sunken cavern. With only a faulty diving flashlight to keep oblivion at bay Stella and her best friend’s brother, Colin, search the cave in hope of finding a way back to the surface. What they discover, however, is that they are not alone. There are other survivors in this subterranean grotto–survivors spanning decades of maritime disasters. Will this discovery prove salvation, or have they all been condemned to the same fate? A grim finale at the bottom of the sea? On an alliance forged by friendship and attraction, Stella and Colin battle to escape the danger that lies beneath.

AMAZON
BARNES AND NOBLE
iTUNES 
KOBO 
GOODREADS

About the Author:

USA TODAY bestselling author, Maureen A. Miller worked in the software industry for fifteen years. She crawled around plant floors in a hard hat and safety glasses hooking up computers to behemoth manufacturing machines. The job required extensive travel. The best form of escapism during those lengthy airport layovers became writing. Maureen’s first novel, WIDOW’S TALE, earned her a Golden Heart nomination in Romantic Suspense. After that she became hooked to the genre. In fact, she was so hooked she is the founder of the JUST ROMANTIC SUSPENSE website. Recently, Maureen branched out into the Young Adult Science Fiction market with the popular BEYOND Series. To her it was still Romantic Suspense…just on another planet! Find more about Maureen at www.maureenamiller.com  

  Read Below for an excerpt from Beneath:

Colin moved, shaking Stella from her daydream. “Come on. Stay close,” he instructed. Close. There was no problem with that command. There was no way she was being left behind in this subterranean abyss. As they started forward, her toe clipped Colin’s heel causing her to stumble and plant a palm on his back for support. “A little too close,” Colin muttered over his shoulder. Stella’s hand snapped back. It wasn’t the first time she had inadvertently touched her best friend’s older brother. In high school, she had taken many fishing trips with the Wexlers. It was common for them to spend the night out at sea so that Jill’s dad could reach the best fishing spot. The cabin was tight on the STARKISSED, and normally Colin would sleep on the bench seat beside the kitchen table while the three females monopolized the v-shaped bed. On one occasion she, Jill, and Anne Wexler retired into the cabin for the night, while Colin and his father remained up on deck. Stella and Jill took the bunk on one side of the V, and Anne slept on the other. At some point the boat pitched slightly on a wave and Stella rolled off her tight perch into the gap between the mattresses. Expecting to hit the floor she instead landed on something pliant. Something strong. Something that smelled like the sea and Irish Spring. Stella was a junior at the time. She had already been kissed and maybe pawed a little, but she still had very little knowledge of what a man felt like. Now she was pinned to a wide chest with her legs twined between his. Planting her palms on the carpet, she clambered for balance. Heat rushed to her cheeks and it seemed every move she made to dislodge herself only made matters worse. Colin didn’t say a word. Powerful arms hefted her back onto the mattress and just like that, his silhouette climbed through the hatch and back onto the deck. Ever since that incident she had a tough time looking him in the eye. It wasn’t just because of the awkwardness of the situation. The truth she concealed was that she had a big-time crush on her best friend’s brother.

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Weekly Goals 9-4-18

I managed to get some work done on my story over the weekend and am sitting just shy of 15K.  I hope to finish the draft this week so I can get some eyes over the story next week. It shouldn't be too hard to write 5K or so this week, can it?

I'm going to be cutting it fine to get it in by the deadline, but I think I can do it...  Maybe.

Had a crazy week at work last week and I don't think things are going to get much calmer until early May, so just steeling myself for another exhausting week...

What are your goals this week?

Celebrate the Small Things 6-4-18

This post is part of Lexa Cain's bloghop, Celebrate the Small Things. Head on over there to join up!

What am I celebrating this week?

It's Friday!  I know it's been a short week, but it has been BUSY!  I am defiinitely looking forward to a weekend at home to sleep and read and write. And do housework, unfortunately.  But it is much needed.

I have been so tired at the end of the day this week, I haven't done any writing, despite the deadline hanging over me.  So this weekend, that's what I have to do.

I am looking forward to spending some time in the sun with a good book too.  Fingers crossed the sun stays out for the weekend.  It's been glorious all week.

What are you celebrating this week?

No Book Post This Week

Sorry guys...  I just haven't had time to write a review this week.

Next week, I promise there will be one.

Apologies.

Weekly Goals 2-4-18

I'm a little late posting my weekly goals this week because we just got back from camping yesterday afternoon.  It was a fun weekend, if a little exhausting!

But now it's time to focus on the week ahead.

I need to get my ass into gear if I'm going to finish my story in time for the anthology deadline.  So this week is all about trying to finish that.  And if work is anything like as crazy this week as it has been the last few, it's going to be busy and I'll be tired.

Daylight saving finished for us over the weekend, so it's getting dark earlier.  It's always a little depressing because I know that means soon it will be cold and in a few weeks we'll be leaving for work in the barely-light and coming home in the dark.  Blerg...

What are your goals this week?